Tool for cutting cable sheathing

ABSTRACT

A tool in the form of pincers for cutting cable sheathing is constructed with a blade portion attached on a first head portion of the tool and a rotatable wheel mounted on an axle attached to the second head portion of the tool. A slide shoe, which is attached along the bottom of the blade and travels between the cable core and the sheathing when the tool is being used, has a rounded prong on its front tip. The axle on which the wheel is mounted has a square shaped extension which can receive a socket wrench for rotating the axle. A tongue is provided on the first head portion for preventing the wheel from contacting the blade and thus damaging the blade. Additionally, marking means are provided for determining the length of sheathing to be cut.

United States Patent [191 Peter [11] 3,818,591 [451 June 25, 1974 [73]Assignee: Licentia Patent-Verwaltungs-GmbH,

Frankfurt am Main, Germany 221 Filed: Nov. 27, 1972 21 Appl. No.:309,666

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 3,518,757 7/1970 Grant 30/91.l3,722,092 3/1973 Lukas 30/90.9 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 559,6342/1944 Great Britain 30/90.8

Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-J. T. ZatargaAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Spencer & Kaye [5 7] ABSTRACT A tool in theform of pincers for cutting cable sheathing is constructed with a bladeportion attached on a first head portion of the tool and a rotatablewheel mounted on an axle attached to the second head portion of thetool. A slide shoe, which is attached along the bottom of the blade andtravels between the cable core and the sheathing when the tool is beingused, has a rounded prong on its front tip. The axle on which the wheelis mounted has a square shaped extension which can receive a socketwrench for rotating the axle. A tongue is provided on the first headportion for preventing the wheel from contacting the blade and thusdamaging the blade. Additionally, marking means are provided fordetermining the length of sheathing to be cut.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEB 5 m4 SHEB 1 0F 2 PATENIEB JUBZS1374 saw a a; 2

FIG. 4b

FIG. 4a a BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present application relates toa tool for cutting into cable sheathing, such as disclosed inconcurrently filed copending application Ser. No. 309,665 by Eugen Peterand Wolfgang Herold and entitled: TOOL FOR CUTTING CABLE SHEATHING.

The tool, which is shown in FIG. 1, is suited to cut into plastic, metaland laminated sheathings of any desired thickness along any desiredlength of the cable. The tool is shaped in the form of pincers having apair of handles 1b and b and associated head portions 1a and 5a,respectively. At one head portion 1a a blade 2 is provided which issharpened at its frontal face 3 and which has along a longitudinal sidea slide shoe 4. At the other head portion 5a the tool is provided withan axle 14 on which a pointed, toothed wheel 6 is mounted. The pointedtoothed wheel may be formed by two bevel gears 6 whose smaller diametersides face one another in which case, the plane of the blade is alignedto perpendicularly intersect the center of the axle 14 of the pointed,toothed wheel in the space between the gears.

FIG. 3 shows the cable sheathing 8 to be cut disposed between the twohead portions la and 5a, during the cutting operation and the slide shoe4 of blade 3 disposed between the sheathing 8 and the core 9 of thecable. Compressing of the pincers causes the slide shoe to be pressedfrom the inside and the pointed, toothed wheel from the outside againstthe cable sheathing. Upon turning the winged handle 7 or the ratchet thepincers are pulled forward by the pointed, toothed wheel and the bladecuts through the cable sheathing.

If the tool is provided with a wheel which consists of two bevel gears,6a and 6b, the cable sheathing is held between the gears and the slideshoe of the blade and the sheathing is cut in the area between theengagements of the two conical surfaces of the gears.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide improvements in the cutting tool described above so as toimprove the operation and the possible uses for the tool, and to alsofacilitate the handling capabilities of the tool. These improvements areobtained by the inclusion on the tool of: a rounded prong on the tip ofthe slide shoe; adaptation of the end portion of the axle for enablingthe use of a socket wrench for rotating the axle; plastic coatings onthe handles; an abutment tongue for limiting movement of the wheel; anda marking rail for determining the length of material to be cut.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of atool for cutting cable sheathing including the improvements made inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the tool shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the cutting tool taken in the direction ofarrow III of FIG. 1, with the handles lb and 5b removed.

FIG. 4a is a side view of the blade with the slide shoe and the prong.

2 FIG. 4b is a front view of the blade schown in FIG. 40.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the tool with the front gear removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It is initially necessary priorto beginning the cutting to insert the slide-shoe 4 of the blade 2between the cable sheating and the cable core. As illustrated in FIG. 1,this insertion is substantially facilitated by shaping the front end ofthe slide shoe in the form of a round prong which has a rounded tip 4aand positioning the blade in back of the tip of this prong.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 4a the slide shoe 4 has an elliptical crosssection and the prong has a round cross section and a rounded tip 4a.

Such a configuration of the slide shoe prevents the cable core frombeing damaged when the tool is inserted. Moreover, the tip 4a providesan abutment for the toothed wheel 6 if the blade is somewhat set backwith respect to the toothed wheel.

The tool can be used in the cutting of the sheathing of cables having awide range of diameters if the conical surfaces of the beveled gears, 6aand 6b, are designed so as to be particularly adapted for use with acable of an average diameter, i.e. if the superficies of these cones aredesigned so as to ,be tangentially aligned along the circumference of acable having an average diameter. In FIG. 3, the sheathing 8 shown isthat of a cable having a diameter larger than average.

As shown in FIG. 2, the axle 14 of the pointed toothed wheel may have asquare shaped extension 11 on one or both sides. On this squaredportion, socket wrench 7 can be attached to engage the portion by meansof detent balls 13 setin the surfaces of portion 11. If the squaredportions are provided on both side of the tool left-handed persons canalso easily use the tool. This is also the case if the squared portionis attached at only one side of the axle but the axle orientation ismade reversible.

In order to allow for the use of the tool at very low temperatures, allof the handles of the pincers and the associated socket wrench arecoated with plastic.

When the tool is in its closed position, i.e. when it is not in use, theblade 2 must be prevented from rubbing against the transporting wheel 6which if not prevented could cause damage to the blade. As shown in FIG.1, a tongue 12 is provided for this purpose at the front edge of theblade above the cutting edge, which tongue serves as an abutment for thetransporting wheel 6 when the tool is closed.

FIG. 5 shows the structural and operational relationship of tongue 12 toblade 3 and wheel 6, when the tool is in its closed position.

In most cases it is only desired to cut into the cable sheathing alongthe cable axis for a certain selected cable length. In order tofacilitate maintaining the prescribed length of the cut, marking rails10 are attached to one or both sides of head portion 1a above the blade.These rails 10 are adjustable in a direction parallel to the axis of thecable which is to be cut and can be secured in a selected position.Markings on these rails, or an edge thereof, then serve as a referencepoint for the desired cutting length. Since these markings are parallelto the slide shoe 4 of blade 2, it is also possible to simultaneouslycontrol the position of the slide shoe.

It will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications, changes andadaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within themeaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a tool for cutting open cable sheathing, comprising incombination: means defining first and second handle portions; meansdefining first and second head portions attached to said first andsecond handles, respectively, and connected for pivotal movement withrespect to each other about an axis; a blade portion having a frontalface having a sharpened portion forming a cutting edge and alongitudinal side extending parallel to the tool cutting direction saidblade being fastened to said first head portion; a slide shoe providedalong said longitudinal side of said blade portion; an axle attached tosaid second head portion for rotation about an axis parallel to the axisof pivotal movement between said head portions; a wheel havingperipheral teeth and attached to said axle; and turning means attachedto said axle for rotating said wheel; the improvement wherein said slideshoe has a front end formed as a circular prong having a rounded tip,said blade is set back with respect to said tip of said prong, saidwheel -marking rail adjustably attached on one longitudinal side of saidblade parallel to the direction of extension of said slide shoe andabove said cutting edge of said blade for indicating the length ofsheathing to be cut.

3. A tool as defined in claim 1 further comprising a tongue disposed onsaid frontal face of said blade above said cutting edge and aligned withsaid wheel so as to prevent said wheel from contacting said blade.

4. A tool as defined in claim 1 wherein: at least one end portion ofsaid axle of said wheel has a square cross section and comprises aplurality of detent balls set therein along its longitudinal surfaces;said end portion is adapted to receive said turning means in operativeengagement with said detent balls; and said turning means is a socketwrench.

5. A tool as defined in claim 4 wherein said handles and a portion ofsaid socket wrench are coated with plastic.

1. In a tool for cutting open cable sheathing, comprising incombination: means defining first and second handle portions; meansdefining first and second head portions attached to said first andsecond handles, respectively, and connected for pivotal movement withrespect to each other about an axis; a blade portion having a frontalface having a sharpened portion forming a cutting edge and alongitudinal side extending parallel to the tool cutting direction saidblade being fastened to said first head portion; a slide shoe providedalong said longitudinal side of said blade portion; an axle attached tosaid second head portion for rotation about an axis parallel to the axisof pivotal movement between said head portions; a wheel havingperipheral teeth and attached to said axle; and turning means attachedto said axle for rotating said wheel; the improvement wherein said slideshoe has a front end formed as a circular prong having a rounded tip,said blade is set back with respect to said tip of said prong, saidwheel is constituted by two beveled gears spaced from one another andhaving their sides with a smaller diameter facing one another, and thecrest of all of the teeth of each of said beveled gears define afrusto-conical surface adapted to be tangentially disposed in contactwith the sheath of a particular cable to be cut.
 2. A tool as defined inclaim 1, further comprising: a marking rail adjustably attached on onelongitudinal side of said blade parallel to the direction of extensionof said slide shoe and above said cutting edge of said blade forindicating the length of sheathing to be cut.
 3. A tool as defined inclaim 1 further comprising a tongue disposed on said frontal face ofsaid blade above said cutting edge and aligned with said wheel so as toprevent said wheel from contacting said blade.
 4. A tool as defined inclaim 1 wherein: at least one end portion of said axle of said wheel hasa square cross section and comprises a plurality of detent balls settherein along its longitudinal surfaces; said end portion is adapted toreceive said turning means in operative engagement with said detentballs; and said turning means is a socket wrench.
 5. A tool as definedin claim 4 wherein said handles and a portion of said socket wrench arecoated with plastic.